Cows

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that our government can track a cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she sleeps in the state of Washington?And, they tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country receiving many government benefits. Maybe we should give them all a cow.

The Constitution

They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don’t we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it’s worked for over 200 years and we’re not using it anymore.

The Ten Commandments

The real reason that we can’t have the Ten Commandments in a courthouse…

You cannot post “Thou Shalt Not Steal,” “Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery” and “Thou Shall Not Lie” in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians – it creates a hostile work environment.

OK, I’ve been a bad blogger lately. I haven’t posted anything quite some time now. BUT I do have good reason at least.

On the job front, I’m still working at the university a few hours a week. Sometimes as many as 15 hours in a week! It’s an easy, laid-back position thus far. Make sure everything is clean, the rooms are stocked, the computer equipment is humming along without glitches. Most of the time I have my time free and clear though. Since my supervisor already knows this, she (and the rest of the staff) have encouraged me to bring magazines, books, my homework. Just no Facebook on the school computer, or anything…uh-hum, “compromising”. Keep it “professional”. Otherwise, I am allowed to surf the net to my little heart’s content. News sites, blogs, etc etc etc. – pretty much all is fair game and encouraged!

So that brings me to my next update: school. With the flexible hours, I have enrolled in school to get my CNA licensing done. Unfortunately, my Fundamentals of Caregiving class was cancelled without notice (Elder Options, you suck…I showed up the first day of class to find locked doors! You didn’t even bother to call me, even though your office stated they called “all registered students”! No one called ME!). I just finished my second week of my six-week course. Some things are easy peasy, other things, not so much. Like I discovered I have a hard time hearing heart beats (gee, with diminished hearing in one ear, who would’ve thought, huh?! lol). So we went out and invested in a stethoscope and blood pressure cup – the “old style kind, not a digital one. And, for only $21, it was a steal! Matt has been wonderful allowing me to use him as a guinea pig on the days I don’t have class and he is in town. I’m getting better!

I did my first clinical last night. For those who don’t know, that means I am putting my new knowledge to the test in a real life facility. In the interest of confidentiality, of course, I can’t say which one, or who the elder is I am assigned to. However, I am very excited because I was assigned to the Alzheimer’s unit in a very VERY nice facility. Seriously, if I ever get to needing an assisted living facility, I want to go someplace like this one. I am also excited because Memory Care residents are the group os people I would like to work with. Crossing my fingers I can pass all my state board exams and get into either this facility or one like it.

As for goals, well, I have been pretty wrapped up in schoolschool (lots to learn and two whole textbooks to complete, along with other tests in such a short time!). I have been working on scanning more documents in to the computer to cut down more paper clutter, so that’s a step in the right direction. I am woefully behind on the rest of my decluttering though, and it weighs really heavy and frustrating on my mind daily. I find it hard to get motivated, but then get so frustrated BECAUSE I’m not motivated, or because I look around the apartment and see so much STUFF. Babysteps, I know, babysteps. Little bits at a time. Sometimes, it just doesn’t seem like enough of anything is getting done though – a whole other frustration. ARGH! This coming week, being in clinicals, I’ll actually have MORE free time (an extra couple hours!), coupled with only 2 days of work, so I should be able to conquor more. Crossing my fingers.

I did get my tomato seeds planted in the windowsill this week. At least that’s a step in the right direction for fresh, home grown food this summer. Next week – chile peppers from last year’s best of the best green chile plants we grew!

How do you plan to celebrate this special day? Myself, I’m thinking of heading over to the Dollar Tree to pick up a couple packs of bubble wrap to bring home and enjoy with Neeko (who, by the way, has a “plastic fetish” and loves to chew on anything plastic).

Best Present EVER!

Popping bubble wrap makes everyone happy, elevates bad moods, brings smiles to faces, young and old. Just something about walking on bubble wrap just to hear it popping. Useful is so many ways: popping, cushioning fragile items, heck, even insulation.

Wait?! Insulation?! Yep. You can insulate your windows against the cold and heat with bubble wrap! We “installed” bubble wrap on our windows (a great task that entailed $5 worth of bubble wrap from Dollar Tree, packing tape, scissors and some liberal cursing) and by doing so, it helps our little apartment stay noticeably cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. A nice side benefit is that we have more privacy (you can’t see through bubble wrap), without cutting out any of the precious sunlight (I like to keep plants in the windows). A great win/win situation.

So, however you choose to celebrate today, let’s all tip our hats in appreciation to the inventors of this cheap, sometimes even free, distraction. And for those of you wondering about bubble wraps invention, did you know – they were trying to invent plastic wallpaper! What a kick!

Squirrels are our friends. Sure when you head to the park you’ll feed the ducks, but why don’t you save a few scraps for the squirrels? Is it because they look like rats with fluffy tails? Or because they get that crazy look in their eye when they notice you unwrapping your sandwich? Give the squirrels of the world a break. They eat all the crumbs you carelessly leave behind on a picnic, they keep your dog or cat entertained, and they’ve never asked for anything in return.

My Neeko absolutely loves his “tree rat” friends. We currently have four distinctive squirrels that make our porch their feeding ground: Fat Boy, Chippy (so named because he’s missing a “chip” out of his ear), Baby 1 and Baby 2. Seems the longer the winter goes, the more we acquire. So, for a mere $7.49 for a Walmart bag of Squirrel Feed, we get to have several months of entertainment for, and by, our dear squirrel friends as they torment our dear Neeko kitty at our back glass patio door. Well worth the cheap investment in our book. 🙂

Yes, you read that right. I’m dreading going back to work. At least I’m dreading going back to THIS particular kind of work. I’m going back to work, a part-time position at a local university, being a front desk administrative assistant. *SIGH*

Unfortunately, accepting this position interferes with all the nursing school schedules, thereby making it impossible for me to register for school. This deeply saddens and disturbs me.

On one hand, I want to pursue the new avenue of work I want to engage in: caregiver and nursing. On the other hand, we have run out of options and I really HAVE to take the job, even though it means schooling will have to be put on hold…yet again. I’m hoping this is only a temporary setback – a means to an end (getting money in, so we can more easily pay for school).

On one hand, I want to better myself, so that I can get into a field that has potential and will only take me a couple months to complete and be certified. Something that will enable our little family to move ahead in life. On the other hand, well, bills need to be paid, we need the roof over our head and food on the table. After tabulating just our basic bills for each month, we realized there is no way we can afford for me to pass up the job, even if it means we may be digging ourselves into a deeper hole by putting my school on hold.

In the past few weeks, we have realized how much we are really on our own and must do whatever we have to get by and get ahead. We have to think of ourselves first and others later. Makes me want to just break down and cry, yet I’m so frustrated I can’t even do that at times.

On the positive note, hubz and I finally got some sit down time today to hash out some of the goal planning we want to do in the immediate future. I feel a bit better having done so. Now we just need to implement those actions. I’m daring to hope that we will be clutter free by June. I was hoping to have school and certification done by then, too, but we’ll have to see how that plays out. So many goals and dreams, so little time in the day, so few resources. Isn’t that the way it always is?

Like most psychologists have proven, goals are better when written down. Hubz and I were chatting today about all the stuff we want to accomplish this year. The list is long, and most of the stuff has been on this nebulous list in the air for more than a year. For some reason, it finally dawned on us that one of the reasons we might not be moving ahead as fast as we like is because we haven’t sat down and actually written our goals out, not even the short-term ones. So, because of this, we just kind of plug along without a definite focus or measurable achievements.

Tomorrow we are getting to meet up with my cousin and his wife for lunch. Afterward, though, we are planning to sit down and really crunch out our goals for this year in writing. We figure we can do some far-out there goals (5 years or more), some medium goals (to be done by the end of this year) and then the more immediate short-term goals (do this week/month). Myself, I’m excited to brainstorm and get them written down. Something we can post on our desk, reminding us what we are working towards. So far, here’s the short term, things to work on this week:

Matt – put in 3 job apps & clean out the boxes blocking the hallway (they are all his stuff, anyways. Nothing I could help with in those boxes)

Me: Gather everything for my FOC classes next week; scan at least ten articles into the computer for “storage” (& toss the physical papers!); sort & get rid of the stuff in my last scrapbook supplies box (all of it to be sold on craigslist – anyone want to make an offer? lol.) I also want to finishing clearing off my photo setup table (lightbox, props, etc), to free up more space in our bedroom. Yeah, a crazy place for it, I know. But with our blackout curtains on the windows, it’s one of the few places in the apartment I can really fully control the lighting setup (to take pictures of products I’m selling for the store, you pervs! 🙂 ).

My last scrapbook box is one I’ve been just moving around the apartment, meaning to sort it and get rid of it, but never really get to it. Heck, it’s only half full, and I already know I’m getting rid of all of it. Just need to list the stuff on craigslist and get it sold.

So there’s this week’s goals in a nutshell. I’m going to try and post these at the beginning of every week, along with an update at the end on how we did on the previous week’s goals. Cross our fingers! Slow, but sure baby steps will get us to our goal!

On a sidenote, but still related. Did you know that today is Ditch Your New Years Resolution Day? How horrible! This is the “average” date that most people have given up on those New Year’s resolutions they made. DON’T GIVE UP!! Just make sure they are realistic and attainable!